Sport and Exercise Nutrition MSc
1 Year Full-Time | September Start

Academic skills when studying away from your home country can differ due to cultural and language differences in teaching and assessment practices. This module is designed to support your transition in the use and practice of technical language and subject specific skills around assessments and teaching provision in your chosen subject. The overall aim of this module is to develop your abilities to read and study effectively for academic purposes; to develop your skills in analysing and using source material in seminars and academic writing and to develop your use and application of language and communications skills to a higher level.

The topics you will cover on the module include:

• Understanding assignment briefs and exam questions.
• Developing academic writing skills, including citation, paraphrasing, and summarising.
• Practising ‘critical reading’ and ‘critical writing’
• Planning and structuring academic assignments (e.g. essays, reports and presentations).
• Avoiding academic misconduct and gaining credit by using academic sources and referencing effectively.
• Listening skills for lectures.
• Speaking in seminar presentations.
• Presenting your ideas
• Giving discipline-related academic presentations, experiencing peer observation, and receiving formative feedback.
• Speed reading techniques.
• Developing self-reflection skills.
• Discussing ethical issues in research, and analysing results.
• Describing bias and limitations of research.

You will learn a range of research approaches and data analysis methods applicable to your subject of study as well as a critical understanding of their relative strengths and weaknesses. You will learn how these approaches can be applied in the planning of a methodologically-rigorous and ethically-sound research study.

This module provides you with the opportunity for independent study in an area of relevance to your degree. You are expected to use skills and knowledge acquired in modules as the basis for an in depth investigation of specific issues in the discipline. The aim of this module is to provide you with the opportunity to carry out an extensive, empirical investigation related to a topic of your own choice, where you will develop skills in communication, critical thinking and independent enquiry.

On Sport Professional Practice you will engage in activities that further your professional development, and enhance your employability as a Northumbria graduate. You will be challenged to apply the knowledge and skills you are learning on your degree programme to real-world contexts. You will select and complete a range of activities aimed at furthering your skills and experience as a practitioner. You will be challenged to develop your own philosophy of support, and to use reflective practice to help your continued professional development.

You will critically engage with contemporary issues relating to the physiology of sport performance and will apply this knowledge to conduct an assessment and report for a real athlete/client. You will study the physiology of training from an assessment and adaptation perspective, in order to understand how exercise interventions can be designed to target specific physiological adaptation, and how these adaptations can be quantified through appropriate physiological assessment. You will also study the long-term planning process and how knowledge of adaptation can be applied to the prescription of training.

This module provides you with an understanding of the biochemical principles of exercise metabolism. You will first gain advanced knowledge of the pathways involved in energy metabolism at rest, as well as during and post exercise. Building on this knowledge, you will gain an appreciation of how manipulating variables within exercise and nutrition can alter metabolism and how this can subsequently influence adaptation to such changes. The module will also cover nutritional trends and contemporary topics from a biochemical standpoint. During the module you will use the skills of using biochemical concepts to critique scientific articles as well as mainstream media articles. You will also utilise these skills to form coherent arguments within the context of contemporary topics.

In this module you will gain advanced skills and understanding of the practical requirements needed for a career in nutrition. The module will cover a critical overview of the assessment of energy balance and provide new insights to alternative techniques. You will also learn advanced knowledge of the tools and techniques used to assess body composition, and gain an understanding of how to identify potential issues and troubleshoot such issues. The module will also give you an understanding of key laboratory skills and techniques that is beneficial for both applied nutrition and nutritional research.

The focus of this module will be on sport and exercise nutrition interventions that aim to improve athlete performance and wellbeing. You will learn what the current guidelines are, and critically review the underlying evidence base for these guidelines. Then you will apply your knowledge to adapt the recommendations for different situational (e.g. time of season, competition schedule, environment, and travelling) or personal contexts (e.g. demographic, other lifestyle commitments, special dietary requirements, and ethical and cultural beliefs). The module will take a food first approach but discuss ergogenic aids and supplements for individual needs where appropriate in the context of current anti-doping advice.